27 October 2022
This month we will be joined by NGS curators Emma Gillespie and Leila Riszko who will introduce us to Conversations with the Collection – a changing programme of displays which offers a new way to experience the national collection.
Each room bring to light rarely displayed yet fascinating artworks and stories. Works have been selected to create bold juxtapositions and visual similarities between artworks, styles and movements to offer a fresh take on how works of art can be presented and share the stories they tell. The aim is to unearth evocative stories and unexpected connections between artists and encourage a sense of openness and discovery.
Talking points are encouraged and explored by covering a wide mix of techniques, processes and approaches, ranging across sculpture, painting, photography and more. Iconic works by famous artists such as Anish Kapoor, Sarah Lucas, Jackson Pollock, Tracey Emin and Cindy Sherman are on display alongside those by brilliant but lesser-known figures including Carole Gibbons and Catherine Yarrow.
Each display explores a unique theme or topic with the thematic displays placing conversation at their heart in a bid to inspire conversations with the collection.
26 May 2022
This month we will be making our way to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to see Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, where we will be joined by curator Leila Riszko.
Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life is a major retrospective, spanning the artist’s entire career charting the development of her practice, her engagement with political and societal change, and the events in her personal life which shaped her work. It features more than 120 works, lent from public and private collections, including renowned sculptures as well as rarely seen drawings and paintings.
The exhibition displays some of Hepworth’s most celebrated sculptures including the modern abstract carving that launched her career, her iconic strung sculptures, and later large-scale bronze and carved sculptures. It will also bring insight to Hepworth’s wide-ranging interests – such as dance, theatre, music, religion, politics, and science – and show how they infused her artistic practice.
Art & Life has been curated by Eleanor Clayton and organised by The Hepworth Wakefield in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, and Tate St Ives.
31 March 2022
This month we are visiting New Arrivals: from Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Joining us for the evening will be Emma Gillespie. Emma has worked in a number of roles at the National Galleries of Scotland since 2014 and was appointed Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2019.
New Arrivals presents a fascinating showcase of the most recent acquisitions at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Featuring over 100 works of art, many of which are being shown here for the first time since they entered the collection, and spanning 110 years of art-making, the show offers a stunning range of modern and contemporary work including painting, sculptures, films and more.
Exhibition highlights include pieces by many historical and contemporary greats: Marc Chagall (the first painting by him to join a public collection in Scotland), Damien Hirst, Wangechi Mutu, Pablo Picasso, Bridget Riley, Jenny Saville, and Alberta Whittle, amongst many others. The show also spotlights a number of significant additions to National Galleries of Scotland’s world-renowned Surrealist collection, notably several works by female Surrealists, including Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning.
